Lithuanian Song Festival starts in Vilnius

An event involving world Lithuanians and Lithuania's ethnic communities took place in the Town Hall Square in central Vilnius on Sunday, and a rock opera was performed in Vingis Park.

Over 12,000 people are set to take part in the festival's main events in Vingis Park on Jul 6.

The Folklore Day in Tuesday will be dedicated to Lithuania's outstanding statesmen, especially Jonas Basanavičius, chairman of the Council of Lithuania which signed the independence act on Feb. 16, 1918.

On Wednesday, a symbolic rye field will be set up in Kalnai Park (the Hill Park) and twenty pregnant women will cross it.

All in all, 36,000 people are expected to take part in the festival, the organizers say. And the audience will be at least ten times bigger.